Unknown assailants hurl petrol bombs at Bahrain's Foreign Ministry in first attack on government building in more than two years of unrest.

Middle East Online

A weapon commonly used by opposition

DUBAI - Unknown assailants have hurled petrol bombs at Bahrain's Foreign Ministry in the first attack on a government building in more than two years of unrest, the Interior Ministry said on Tuesday.

"A group of terrorists attempted to attack the Dar al-Hukumah compound with petrol bombs," the Ministry said on its Twitter account, adding that guards repelled them and that there was no damage caused in the late Monday attack.

The compound is the old headquarters of the government but it is now used by the Foreign Ministry and as administrative offices.

Pictures posted on Twitter microblogging site show masked men throwing petrol bombs at the complex in the centre of the capital of the Gulf kingdom that is ruled by a Sunni dynasty.

Witnesses said police stormed areas of Manama at dawn and made some arrests.

According to the International Federation for Human Rights, a total of 80 people have been killed in Bahrain since violence erupted on February 14, 2011, when Shiite-led demonstrations were held demanding democratic changes.

Protests have continued in Shiite villages despite a brutal crackdown in March 2011. Demonstrating youths frequently use petrol bombs against security forces.